News

O'FALLON -- Due to recent problems with the IGRC email system that cannot be resolved, IGRC clergy email accounts will be ended on March 1 if a policy change is approved in the next few days by the Conference IT User's group. The announcement was made Feb. 2 by Rick Van Giesen, director of administrative services at Covenant Keepers 2015. Pastors are being asked to provide their District office with an alternative, non-IGRC email address which they would designate to receive IGRC email. If the...

By Beth Fender IGRC Coordinator of Discipleship and New Streams Rev. Randy Robinson, lead pastor at Danville St. James UMC, hadn’t planned on hosting an intern. When I initially called to invite him to apply, he actually put off returning my call. When I finally got him on the phone, he claimed there was just too much going on at the church. Brandon Divan, a young adult from nearby Oakwood, who had served as an intern in his home parish in the summer of 2012, wanted to continue discerning ...

QUINCY -- Matt Obert has been named the Vice President of Operations at Chaddock in Quincy. Obert has been with the agency for 7 1/2 years and was Director of Operations, previously. He will be responsible for day-to-day management of program and facilities at Chaddock. He has a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois and is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Institute at the University of Michigan. Before his work with Chaddock, Obert was Director of Developmental...

Candidate profiles are now being accepted for clergy and laity that wish to be considered as delegates to the 2016 General and Jurisdictional Conference until March 16. The election page can be found by visiting: www.igrc.org/ac2015elections. The election page contains links for both clergy and lay candidate profiles. The Book of Discipline (2012) stipulates that only clergy in full connection (elders or deacons) are eligible for election. Provisional clergy members, associate and affiliate ...

JACKSONVILLE -- After eight years as president of MacMurray College, Dr. Colleen Hester will be departing May 31, Board Chair Charles O’Connell announced Dec. 30. “On behalf of the Board and the entire MacMurray community, I extend our best wishes and gratitude to President Hester as she begins the next chapter of her professional life,” O’Connell said. “Her dedication to our institution is unmatched, and we will all miss her remarkable exuberance on behalf of our beloved College.” The first...

The IGRC Commission on Camp and Retreat Ministries (CCRM) has announced that it will be bringing a recommendation in the form of a resolution to Annual Conference in June that will position the IGRC outdoor ministry for a vital and sustainable future by obtaining permission to take the following bold steps: Retiring, selling, and reallocating the property assets at Epworth Camp, Jensen Woods, and Living Springs. Redesigning East Bay Camp and reducing property size if the design allows and it is...

Looking for someone who would like to speak at your church this year? John and Colleen Eisenbergs are willing and available to come and share their experiences as missionaries in Paraguay. If you want to check out their ministry, visit: www.themissionsociety.org/people/eisenberg or call them at: John 618-409-6429 or Colleen 618-610-7920.

Under the newly titled Lay Servant Ministries program there are no changes to the requirements to become or remain as either Local Church or Certified. The only thing that changed is the new title of Lay Servant rather than Lay Speaker. The New Step of Lay Speaker The new "step," if you will, only affects those who feel called to provide pulpit supply (preaching) in the occasional absence of a pastor (while on vacation, serving on retreat, mission trip, at a camp, revival, etc.). Download ...

By Bunny Wolfe IGRC Missions and Outreach Coordinator Beginning January 2015, there are some significant changes in the IGRC Five-Star Giving Program. These changes were adopted to help IGRC congregations renew their Five-Star recognition. The new and combined categories should help churches of all sizes to quality. A significant reduction in Five Star churches became evident when the qualification for missionary salary support changed to require a Covenant Relationship with United ...

By Bunny Wolfe IGRC Missions and Outreach Coordinator A part of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference partnership with Liberia includes pastor salary support for United Methodist pastors in Liberia. IGRC established the General Advance #15124A for Liberian Pastor Salary Support in 2006 and we asked all churches to donate $20 per month toward pastor salary support in Liberia. This same General Advance number remains current. Today, the need for pastor salary support for Liberian pastors is ...

NASHVILLE – The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has announced three individuals have been awarded Merit Scholarships for the 2014-15 school year. The three individuals, who applied for other financial aid from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, scored the highest among a panel of persons selected by the conference Board of Higher Education to read the applications of all applicants and rate them without knowing the identity of any of the applicants. Awarded $700...

By Rev. Alice J. Shirley and Rev. Jeff Rasche QUINCY -- There’s never been math like this before!! (IGRC Youth + Extreme Generosity) x 3 years = $150,000 = A new classroom at Chaddock! This fall the youth ministry of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, in partnership with Chaddock in Quincy, will begin an ambitious campaign to raise $150,000 over three years to build a classroom in the new education facility at Chaddock. Chaddock is a Golden Cross Ministry of the IGRC and an ...

Mattoon First UMC sent a team of five to work with the Pest UMC in Budapest, Hungary, the last week of June. After worship with our Embarras District partner church of four years, the Americans taught conversational English to the incoming freshman students at the Forrai School. Hungarian Christians from both Budapest Methodist churches worked alongside the American team to build relationships and witness to the students while others hosted the Americans in their homes. The five from Mattoon ...

MOUNT VERNON -- The United Methodist Children's Home has been awarded a $1.1 million U.S. Department of Labor grant. YouthBuild, which sponsored the grant, is a non-residential, community-based alternative education program providing class instruction and occupational skills training to youth ages 16 to 24 who have been in the juvenile justice system, are aging out of foster care, have dropped out of high school or are otherwise at-risk of failing to reach key educational and career ...

NORMAL -- The Baby Fold Board of Directors elected four new board members to serve a three-year term for the organization beginning July 1. The new board members are the Rev. John Hamilton, retired IGRC clergy and founder of The Baby Fold Camp; Julie Hesse, school psychologist and member of Bloomington Wesley UMC; Charles Knudson, senior certified real estate appraiser, 1st Farm Credit Services in Normal and member of Bloomington Wesley UMC; and Lori Short, director of KidVenture Ministries at ...

(Editor’s note: The Historical Messenger is a publication of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference Historical Society and is published four times a year in The Current. The article below was the text of a message presented by Conference Historian, the Rev. Richard Chrisman as the Prentice Memorial Sermon on April 26, 2014, at the Petersburg UMC. This article represents Volume 46, No. 2 for April to June 2014.) By Richard Chrisman What is the Prentice Sermon? This series of sermons began with a ...

By William R. Kreeb President/CEO, Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House EAST ST. LOUIS -- The Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House Continuum of Life Homeless Outreach Center needs your support to win a grant from the Monsanto Grow St. Louis program in 2014. You can vote for Homeless Services in East St. Louis at www.facebook.com/growstlouis from July 21 to Aug. 3. Each winner will receive a $20,000 grant. Each email address can vote once per day throughout the entire period of 14 days. ...

The 2014 Liberia Partners Summit Steering Team has announced that the 2014 Liberia Partners Summit will be Nov. 13-14 at Nardin Park UMC in Farmington Hills, Mich. The annual gathering of supporters and friends of Liberia will begin on Thursday, November 13 with a luncheon gathering. Following will be a full schedule of information sessions, workshops, discussion groups and worship and fellowship. The Summit will conclude with a banquet and worship the evening of Friday, November 14. The ...

By Bunny Wolfe IGRC Missions and Outreach Coordinator The IGRC Liberia Partnership launched a new scholarship initiative for children in Liberia at the 2014 Annual Conference. Information is posted online at: www.igrc.org/liberia. For more information, please contact me at bwolfe@igrc.org. Donations toward the IGRC Liberia Scholarship Initiative should be sent with Advance #6995 on the designation lines of all checks made out to IGRC. This will allow IGRC to send scholarship funds, along ...

LEBANON. — McKendree University has been honored as a College of Distinction for the 2014-2015 school year. It is among a select group of colleges to earn this prestigious designation, based on excellence in four distinctions: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant campus communities and successful outcomes. High school college counselors and educators nominate colleges and universities for recognition by Colleges of Distinction, which then evaluates each school based on qualitative and ...

By Paul Black Two recipients of graduate-level scholarships have finished their studies at Africa University and are beginning their professional careers. Melvin Nye Payekar of Liberia and Ivan Milosi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been recipients of two graduate study scholarships where one of the recipients is from Liberia and the other from another African nation. Both biographies have similarities and both saw their dreams fulfilled for an education met through the generosity...

Funds from the Conference Disaster Fund were used to finance Camp Noah, a week-long camp helping children in Gifford cope with the aftermath of a Nov. 17 tornado. The camp focused on where children were at and their needs. Providing a safe space to tell their story, leaders helped the children process the disaster and assist in a week of healing that enabled the children to move forward and a new a perspective for the future. Working cooperatively with the Gifford United Methodist and ...

By Richard Straub IGRC Africa University Committee Chair The Bridge to…….. Let me ask you to do something. Use your imagination to place yourself in the character of a young adult. You’re standing on a road overlooking the entrance to a bridge. Here you are standing alone, dreaming that some day you might be able to cross over this very bridge to what awaits you on the other side. No, this is not a bridge in some occupied territory where freedom to move about is restricted and you have ...

View the photo gallery from Hope Swings in Washington... By Paul Black WASHINGTON – The smile and sparkle of Mia Pruitt’s eyes told the story. While members of a mission team finished the last connecting pieces of her new swing set, Mia was already making plans. “It’s exciting because now I can have my friends over and we can have fun together,” she said. The swing set delivery was one of several made in the third week of Hope Swings in Washington, a seven-week mission blitz for youth ...

By Alice J. Shirley IGRC Coordinator of Camping, Retreat and Youth Ministries NEW YORK CITY -- Of all the opportunities offered on the Illinois Great Rivers Conference New York City 2014 seminar trip, the favorite—by far—was the seminar itself. Second on the favorites’ list was a Broadway show; third was worship at Riverside Church, and fourth was Hurricane Sandy clean-up on Staten Island. It says something about our youth today that spiritual formation through Christian conversation, ...

Ministry of the Laity celebrated at the 2014 Annual Conference By Paul Black, IGRC Director of Communication Ministries PEORIA – The Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference was held in Peoria, June 4-7, under the theme of Ministry of the Laity. The 2014 session is the first of a three-year celebration focused on ministry. The theme was apparent throughout the conference as the conference opened with a nearly $40,000 offering for Imagine No Malaria that pushed the conference’s campaign past ...

PEORIA – Lay and clergy members approved a proposal to change clergy health insurance and a new, streamlined Connectional Table during the 2014 Annual Conference session. The measure, recommended by the Conference Board of Pensions, would move active clergy covered by the conference’s self-insured plan to purchasing insurance from the exchanges that are a part of the Affordable Care Act. IGRC Director of Administrative Services Rick Van Giesen said he would be holding District meetings in ...

By Roberta Robbins Bishop Keaton, Cabinet Members, clergy, laity, honored guests, visitors, and my CLM colleagues. Thank you for the invitation to speak this morning. My understanding is that I am the first certified lay minister to address the annual conference. My hope and prayer are that I will not be the last. TGISaturday! In looking around this morning, I see many pastors checking their smartphones more frequently. Thoughts of “I need to get home for tomorrow’s worship services” ...

By Paul Black PEORIA -- For MacMurray College President Colleen Hester, a love for learning was a guiding force toward a vocation in United Methodist higher education. Hester shared her faith story as the Friday morning speaker at the 2014 Annual Conference. “When we speak of ministry of the laity, we are speaking of the ministry of the people of God,” Hester said. “All members of the Church can be called to serve in love.” While one’s calling may be service outside one’s employment, it ...

By Mike Crawford IGRC Coordinator of Congregational Development Exciting things are happening throughout the Illinois Great Rivers Conference as the Office of Congregational Development has had opportunity to partner with local churches in ministry. For many years, Peoria First UMC has worked in partnership with a neighborhood elementary School. That outreach was expanded through a summer soccer program. Identifying that a growing number of...

By Jessica Davenport Good morning. It’s wonderful to be with you all. I am Jessica Davenport, the campus minister/associate director of the Illinois State University Wesley Foundation. I didn’t really grow up in the church. My dad grew up Catholic and my mother was Methodist. When we moved to a small town in northern Illinois, we sought out The United Methodist Church. And while we were members and attended occasionally, we encountered this church at a point that wasn’t its healthiest. And my ...

By Greg Gelzennis The United Methodist Church has had a significant presence in Honduras following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Just imagine what would happen in your city, let alone a majority world country such as Honduras, if a hurricane came right over your community and stayed for a week. That is what happened to Honduras and there are still signs of Mitch to this day. But the Honduran people are very hardworking and resilient and today, after 16 years of “relief” as we ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – When two dozen tornadoes blazed a trail of destruction across Illinois last Nov. 17, no one could imagine the enormity of the challenge and the way in which pastors and laity in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference would respond. Conference Lay Leader Ken Miller yielded his time to allowing others caught in the storm to tell their stories and how the United Methodist presence has been present in all parts of the conference. Mandy Mattingly, who attends Washington ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – The Liberia Partnership announced a new scholarship initiative during its report to the 2014 Annual Conference in which churches or individuals can sponsor a Liberian child’s education. A gift of $175 to the conference’s scholarship program can send a child that you will know by name to a specific school in Liberia for a year. The initial goal of 500 scholarships has been set for the 2014-15 school year with the long-range goal of sending 50 students from each of the ...

Recognizing greatness By Paul Black PEORIA – In a world that confuses success with significance, Bishop John Hopkins asked those attending this year’s ordination service, “Can we recognize greatness?” Using the text from Mark 1 where James and John asked for preferential treatment in sitting to Christ’s left and right, Hopkins said several things were happening: First, they had forgotten their call to servant ministry. They were following Jesus for the wrong reason. “Tonight, ordinands ...

By Chaplain Capt. John Read It is so incredible to be home and I am so thankful for this opportunity to provide a simple message for this family. It won’t be terribly long, if you can imagine needing to get to 13 different locations in a day, the service and the messages can’t be very long. Granite City Good Shepherd UMC was the last church that I pastored in the former Southern Illinois Annual Conference. There was a remarkable man of faith in that church. Born and raised a Roman Catholic, ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – When it comes to making disciples, it’s all about focus. And for the connectional ministries of the annual conference, it is about equipping the local church for ministry and providing a connection to ministry beyond the local church. Utilizing videos from two of Chattanooga, Tenn., entrepreneur Mike Mixson’s commercials, Director of Connectional Ministries Rev. Dr. Kent Lolling illustrated the power of focus. “It seems to be that Mike is pretty focused on what he ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – When it comes to the topic of home, Rev. Cynthia Jones speaks from experience. As a daughter of an itinerant pastor who became an intinerant pastor herself, Jones believes she has lived in about 20 different places. As one of 30 retirees in the Class of 2014, she’s moving again. “I have often found it difficult to answer where home is,” Jones said during her sermon at the retiree recognition service. “The easy answer is the address to where mail is sent and where I ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – While the 2014 Annual Conference theme was Ministry of the Laity, the selection of this year’s Denman Evangelism Awards underscores the significance an empowered laity can have on the life of the church. The IGRC Evangelism Committee has announced the awarding of the clergy Denman Award to the Rev. Nancy Ribes, pastor of Mt. Olive and Sorento UMC’s and the laity Denman Award to Jon and Robyn Clark, who are a part of the Maryville Campus of Fairview Heights Christ UMC. ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – Barbara Boigegrain admitted that she had not shared as much of her personal faith journey as she did when she took to the platform of the 2014 Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference. The head of the denomination’s General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, Boigegrain oversees more than $20 billion in assets which are managed on behalf of active and retired clergy in The United Methodist Church. “When you really think about it, our journeys begin long before we ...

By Paul Black PEORIA – It is the shortest verse in the Bible and yet one of the most powerful. Jesus wept. Bishop Jonathan Keaton used the text of Lazarus’ death and resurrection to point to how Jesus joins us in our grief even when we are feeling pain and loss. “Jesus’ love for Lazarus tells me something about your loved ones,” Keaton told family members who gathered for the 2014 Memorial Service at annual conference. “Our Lord has the same love for your loved one as he had for Lazarus…...

By Paul Black SPRINGFIELD -- Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton used his opening night message of the 2014 Annual Conference to underscore the challenge of staying united in the midst of differences -- an issue that is facing the United Methodist denomination, while also reporting on congregations within the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and how they are finding vitality. "Disciple making and mission go hand in hand and when we focus our attention on them, growth in membership and average worship ...

By Paul Black PEORIA -- Members of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference celebrated on opening night as an offering of more than $39,000 for Imagine No Malaria pushed the campaign past its $2.5 million goal. Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton announced the Wednesday night offering totaled $39,412.81, pushing overall amount to $2,531,894.10. "This is a testimony as why God sent me to the Illinois Great Rivers Conference instead of letting me spend my last four years in Michigan," Keaton said. "God ...

Come and shower the Annual Conference meeting with prayer. A prayer room in Room 134 of the Peoria Civic Center will be open when the conference is in session. This will be a space where you can lift the annual conference in prayer, as well as lift up your own prayer requests. In addition, there will be interactive prayer stations to lead you in prayer for our church and world. Persons may sign-up for a 30-minute block of time at: http://tinyurl.com/igrcprayer. It is our hope that at least ...

As of May 28, the Illinois Great Rivers Conference is closing in on the $2.5 million mark as receipts have narrowed the gap to a mere $14,153. The Third Annual Bishops’ Open generated $13,000 May 16 and contributions from the local churches and individuals sending in their offerings provided more than $32,000 during the month of May. A special offering at the opening worship service of Annual Conference is expected to put the conference “over the top.” As of May 16, there was $20,672 in ...

PEORIA – Lay and clergy members will gather June 4-7 for the 2014 Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference around the theme Ministry of the Laity, but clergy health insurance and the way it is provided will be one of the major pieces of legislation that will be discussed. A proposal (Legislative Item 107 and 107-A, which contains Frequently Asked Questions) by the Conference Board of Pensions will be presented Thursday afternoon. The proposal, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2015, would move ...

A walking challenge has been issued for June 4-7 for persons that are a part of the IGRC HealthMiles walking program. Active or retired clergy and spouses along with conference staff have received an email from Todd Creviston of the General Board of Pensions, inviting them to accept the challenge. The challenge has been set up by Rick Van Giesen, IGRC Director of Administrative Services and Pension and Benefits officer. Persons who join The "Don't Table That Motion!" challenge will be the ...